Lardo opened up as a food cart over half a decade ago, and it's been a mainstay on the city's "best sandwich" lists ever since. It's a local boy done good who still gives back to the community. By which, we mean they're still selling tuna melts and Don Johnsons.

Chef John Gorham's Tasty n Sons has been a brunch staple for the city ever since it opened, snagging Willamette Week's Restaurant of the Year in 2010. The lines may still be long, but this brunch is always worth the wait.

It feels like it was just yesterday that Chef Troy MacLartay introduced Portland to the kati roll and other street foods of India, but it was actually four years ago—and Bollywood Theater has had this category on lockdown ever since.

It's a rule that any place with a dog in its logo also has to be a great place for dog owners to bring their best friends. Sure, the dogs don't get to drink the beer, eat the solid pizza or play darts, but at least they get to be around while you do.

Living gluten-free doesn't mean you also want to live pastry, cookie and cake-free, too. Back to Eden Bakery is for everyone who needs a reminder that tasting good doesn't mean something has to be unhealthy.

Hamburgers aren't the first thing that comes to mind when we think paleo (or even probably the second thing) but chef Richard Shatnick put together a truly mouthwatering menu with a wealth of options for paleo, vegetarian and vegan dietary needs. Also, there's a pork-duck burger patty.

The 10th & Alder food cart pod isn't just Portland's largest, it's also an excellent incubator for the city's next generation of restaurants. The People's Pig and El Cubo de Cuba are just two examples of carts that made the jump from 10th and Alder to brick and mortar.

As delicious as it is, sushi has the specter of the world's rapidly depleting fisheries hanging over it. Luckily for Portlanders, Bamboo Sushi is the first certified sustainable sushi shack in the world.

"Tea" is one of the larger, more vaguely defined members of the beverage family. Thankfully, Townshend's brings black, green, white, chai, herbal and bubble teas from all around the world under one roof in Portland.

Aside from opening one of the state's first wineries in 1971, Sokol Blosser has also pioneered the field of wine doggery. Legendary cheese bandit Andre may no longer roam the grounds, but Twix the Wine Poodle has filled in admirably.

New Deal Distillery was at the forefront of Portland's burgeoning craft liquor industry, and just one sip of the of the juniper-forward Portland Dry Gin 33 will give you a good idea why it remains one of the best.

While wings are on nearly every brewery menu, Fire on the Mountain took a decidedly different route to this destination: It began as a wings joint that expanded into a brewery. Try the Caribbean Jerk. Or the spicy peanut. Or el Jefe. Who are we kidding? Try them all.

Salty's seafood chowder—a wonderful creamy mixture of clams, Oregon Bay shrimp, scallops and bacon—is more than just an exceptional bowl of chowder. Slurping it down with the Columbia on your side and Mount Hood in the distance feels like a celebration of the Pacific Northwest.

Some people thought $2.50 was too much for a taco when ¿Por Que No? opened its doors in 2005. Over a decade later and Bryan Steelman's Oaxaca-meets-Pacific Northwest taco joint still has lines going around the block.

The spiritual sister of Best Pad Thai-winner Pad Thai Kitchen, Hot Pot City is fairly straight forward: you get a burner, some broth, a wealth of meat, vegetable and vegetable offerings and, baby, you've got a hot pot going.

Like most pub food, fish and chips is an exercise in greasy simplicity. Fish, batter and a deep fryer are pretty much all you need. It's no wonder that one of the city's finest pubs also serves Portland's favorite beer-battered halibut.

Fish sauce, dill pickles and olive oil aren't the first flavoring agents that come to mind when you think of ice cream, but don't tell that to Salt & Straw, Portland's most popular and adventurous ice cream company.

Moonstruck is more than a fantastic chocolatier in Portland, it frequently collaborates with the robust local liquor industry to bring you some of the tastiest, booziest chocolate truffles you've ever tasted.

Piemaker Kate McMillen learned everything she knows about pie making from her grandmother, the titular Lauretta Jean. Let's just say there's a reason why Willamette Week dubbed her the "Queen of Crusts."

$102 gets you a six course dinner at Naomi Pomeroy's Beast. The menu changes weekly, but one thing never changes: You will eat every scrap of it. Even if your stomach is already full, your taste buds won't let any of this food go to waste.

Lisa Schroeder opened Mother's Bistro to make slow-cooked, comforting "Mother Food." Since opening its doors in 2000, Mother's Bistro has won countless awards and national acclaim, but Schroeder hasn't forgotten what makes it all work. She spotlights the story and recipes of a new mother every month.

Great prices are one thing, but Sloan's attendants also want to make sure you know how to unlock your clothing's full potential, going so far as to create instructional videos on how to wrap a sweater wrap.

Whether you're looking for that special Edwardian platinum ring with diamonds and sapphire filigree engagement ring or perhaps a less gaudy recycled ring using a vintage cast, Gem Set Love has been the place to go for 22 years.

Kitchen Kaboodle has everything you need to bring your kitchen up to code, yes, but it also has a wide selection of groovy furniture. One could say, Kitchen Kaboodle has the whole kit and kaboodle, but such low-hanging fruit is beneath Willamette Week.

The largest Japanese supermarket in the Portland area can be a dangerous place: Go in there without a clear objective and you'll leave with a cart overflowing with gyoza, soba, sweet, sweet Beard Papa cream puffs, and much, much more.

From the colorful psychedelia of co-founder Jerry Ware to the Native American-inflected naturalistic work of Cheyenne Sawyer, Atlas Tattoo has been creating some of the city's best tattoos for nearly 20 years.

She Bop was founded 7 years ago to go beyond the kitsch seediness of the traditional sex shop by adding an emphasis on education and in creating a sex-positive environment for people of all genders and sexual orientations.

Many of us need cars. Many of us enjoy the thrill of getting a feel for a new (or used) car. It's just a pity that the act of buying a car is such a pain in the ass. Larry Heiser tries to make this experience as comfortable, quick and painless as possible.

WeVillage emphasizes flexibility in its award-winning, play-based daycare service. Once your child is enrolled in the program, you can drop him or her off at any of the four locations whenever you need.

Portland's largest independent pet store is here for the city's entire pet community, handling everything from the well-being of your best friend Oliver Cromwell to donating pet food to local shelters.

Camp Namanu exists to fight the summer learning divide for children in between grades. Just an hour east of Portland, it offers an opportunity for kids to swim, make crafts and learn how to ride horseback, alongside many other healthy outdoor activities.

There aren't many recording studios in the country that can compete with the list of artists Jackpot! has worked with since opening in 1997, Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney and Sonic Youth to name a few.

Since coming to Portland in 1992, Mic Crenshaw has been heavily involved not only in the rap scene but also as an activist, outreach coordinator with KBOO and an ambassador for the local hip hop community.

Despite its second consecutive win in the Best of Portland readers poll, Fruition has never been fully comfortable with the labels "folk" or "alt-country." It prefers to think of itself as something simpler: a rock band.

Curtis Salgado has toured with the likes of Carlos Santana and Bonnie Raitt. Salgado was also an inspiration for the Blues Brothers after meeting John Belushi in Eugene during the filming of Animal House.

Founded in 1896, the Oregon Symphony is the oldest symphony on the West Coast and it was also one of the first nationally to hire an African-American conductor. The late James DePriest turned it into a nationally acclaimed group during his 23 years at the helm.

Founded originally as the northern outpost of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage presents a mix of classics like A Streetcar Named Desire and more contemporary work like Sex with Strangers.

Brianna Barrett's storytelling career began with the darkest story: a Hodgkin's lymphoma diagnosis in 2013. From video series documenting her fight with cancer to "36 Perfectly Appropriate Dinner Conversations," Barrett has made Portlanders cry, laugh and rejoice.

Comedy is an art form heavily influenced by the comedian's point of view, and Lez Stand Up is a rare opportunity to experience an exclusively lesbian comedy show. They're all women. They're all gay. They're all funny as hell.

WW contributor Penelope Bass perhaps best described Pruett when she was named in the Funniest Five in 2013: "[She's] like a childhood friend who makes you pee a little when she catches you off-guard with a joke about her pussy."

Between a permanent collected 42,000 works of art large, a consistent lineup of major traveling exhibitions and the Northwest Film Center, the Portland Art Museum has something to fill anyone with wonder.

Performance and visual artists from all around converge in Portland for the annual Time-Based Art Festival, creating a myriad of installations, temporary galleries and unexpected public spaces for art.

You can see signs around town marking locations where Gus Van Sant shot scenes for films like Drugstore Cowboy. The rest of the country may know him as the director of Good Will Hunting, but we know him as Portland's homegrown auteur.

Alicia J. Rose's fitfully funny web-series follows the trials and adventures of Jackie and River in Portland, focusing on the special relationship between a woman and a gay man. Jackie isn't River's beard; he is her gusband.

Named for the year that Bill Walton, Mo Lucas and the Blazers gave the city its first championship, the open space, giant screen and rowdy atmosphere make Spirit of 77 feel more like a gym with booze than a sports bar.

With 30 odd taps of grossly underpriced beer—everything is only $2.50 a pint during happy hour—Sassy's is a hell of a bar. There just also happens to be talented naked women performing advanced acrobatic maneuvers in front of a refreshingly mix-gendered crowd.

Not to be confused with the cancer-stricken protagonist of The Fault in Our Stars, you can find this dazzling brunette at Devil's Point. If you're lucky, you just might get to share the stage with her at Stripperaoke.

This drag show has been going strong since the titular Darcelle XV, the most venerable drag queen on the West Coast and former Grand Marshall of the Rose Festival, founded the Showplace nearly 40 years ago.

To go along with nationally syndicated programs like All Things Considered, OPB allows Portland listeners to learn about and confront local issues and culture through Think Out Loud and State of Wonder.

In the seven years since recording a podcast a week after losing their jobs in 2009, Greg Nibler and Sarah X Dylan's Funemployment Radio has gained national acclaim and spawned its own funny, crazy and sometimes profane podcast network.

Common Ground's "Massage Sandwich" is perhaps the best massage package in town. For a reasonable price, you can bookend your massage with time spent in the sauna or WW readers' choice for Best Soaking Pool.

What sets this cooperative's soaking pool apart is less the clothing optional aspect and more the concerted effort to make sure everyone feels comfortable through the establishments culture and designated men and women-only hours.

Going to the dentist is rarely something we actually want to do, but one patient perhaps best described the Laurelhurst Dental experience: "They made the 'dreaded semi-annual cleaning' not so dreaded anymore."

The Portland Running Company is the rare shoe store that suggests you bring your old running shoes and wear athletic clothes when you visit. The gait evaluation, expert measurements and advice will help you find a shoe to reach your true running potential.

After a boss disregarded a cannabis trial in favor of a big pharma drug, Emma Chasen packed her car and drove across the country to Portland. Now this Brown grad is a budtender at one of the most forward-thinking industry leaders.